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Bioware's Dragon Age Petition for Linux?

02-26-2007, 09:33 PM

I was checking out Bioware's forum for their new in development RPG, Dragon Age and I stumbled upon this Linux petition thread. Bioware hasn't announced their publisher so much of things are still under wraps. This thread was closed in Nov. 2006 but I thought that Bioware seems to be listening.

And that's 10 pages, so this gets closed now. Thanks for the input it's been passed along to the Dev team.

I have tremendous respect for Bioware. Them releasing NWN Linux clients mean they are more than capable to porting Dragon Age and have porting Linux clients as an option. I am further delighted at the news that at least they have heard the cry for one.

Does this guarantee a Linux client? Hell no, but it's a step to that direction.

Heh... THAT thread. Shame that they closed off the thread at 10. They "got their input" (Not likely, really...) but they've learned from the ATARI NWN2 thread fiasco to axe these threads quick- whether or not they're going to provide support or not.

Stanley Woo's comments in the thread lend to the impression that there's not likely to be one unless the thread changed their minds about things.

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Heh... THAT thread. Shame that they closed off the thread at 10. They "got their input" (Not likely, really...) but they've learned from the ATARI NWN2 thread fiasco to axe these threads quick- whether or not they're going to provide support or not.

Stanley Woo's comments in the thread lend to the impression that there's not likely to be one unless the thread changed their minds about things.

You know, Bioware had nothing to do with NWN 2. Frankly, I didn't like the guys who did NWN 2 either. Now, I know you probably don't care about Bioware nor for any commercial company out there but you should at least give them some form of respect. I've played NWN and all the expansion on Linux (Thanks to them) and I'm honestly impressed that they still released patches on the Linux client a year or so back.

I may have an indifferent attitude towards people begging for a Linux client. You should read that other thread here I posted waaay back. But I believe Bioware is a different case. The way I see it is there's no Linux port, but it's not impossible that it comes down some time soon. That's good enough for me because I feel it's coming in the future.

On a side note: You caused quite a stir there with Stanley. I'm not going to pick sides here but it just seemed like the two of you went nowhere. :P

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You know, Bioware had nothing to do with NWN 2. Frankly, I didn't like the guys who did NWN 2 either. Now, I know you probably don't care about Bioware nor for any commercial company out there but you should at least give them some form of respect. I've played NWN and all the expansion on Linux (Thanks to them) and I'm honestly impressed that they still released patches on the Linux client a year or so back.

I was more referring to the attitude espoused by the thread and how they just simply cut it off at 10 screens- PERIOD. Just when the discussion was getting interesting. I give respect where respect is due- I DO happen to work on a consultant basis for a commercial company producing games for Linux. I'm waiting for the first title to go gold and I'm about to probably be in a position to go back mostly full-time on the other two games I've got responsibility over and shove them out the door with the same quality that you've all come to expect from them.

As for respect- they've got it. It's just that they did something mildly disrespectful to us there; and the respect they have from me doesn't get them any slack on that regard. If they did what they did in that thread to the Windows crowd they'd be in trouble. But they'll do it to us. Think about it.

I may have an indifferent attitude towards people begging for a Linux client. You should read that other thread here I posted waaay back.

Which thread would that be? I must not have seen that one.

But I believe Bioware is a different case. The way I see it is there's no Linux port, but it's not impossible that it comes down some time soon. That's good enough for me because I feel it's coming in the future.

Don't be sure of it. We were "lucky" to get NWN the way we got it.

There could have been an official version of it but the BoD of both Bioware and Atari nixed the deal in the end. When I hear, "you're going to miss out..." it means to me they're not giving it even a single thought in all honesty- and in a way that's not likely to have a version offered, official or unofficial, for Linux.

On a side note: You caused quite a stir there with Stanley. I'm not going to pick sides here but it just seemed like the two of you went nowhere. :P

Heh... There's a reason for why I posted the way I did.

They get kudos for doing NWN and at least giving out a way to play it on Linux in the end. I'm ever grateful. It's why we were trying to have a discussion about DA- I was keen on the idea of a possible new game from them.

They don't get kudos for the game Stanley was playing. He was saying that you'll miss out if we don't make a Linux version and you won't buy- and it's a great game.

Sorry, I don't play that game- EVER. I don't give a flip by and of itself if it's a great game- if it's not on a platform or system I either choose to have or already have, being a great game means NOTHING to me. Trying to convince me to change my position there by way of that it's going to be a great game and I'll miss out is garbage. It's not giving me the respect that one in that position should be giving to a potential customer- so why should I be all respectful to them with that sort of attitude? We get the same treatment from Blizzard and a bunch of other companies- just because they did NWN doesn't get them off the hook when they go about it all that way.

If they'd have said, "we don't know", or "it's not going to happen because of decision 'X'" it'd have gotten them the respectful "Fine. Thanks for NWN, but I'll pass on DA because I'm not interested because of no Linux support at all..." instead of what happened.

In the end, it was all okay in the discussion and the later on threads that got spawned (there's one with 7 pages going right now...). They got the point I was trying to make and they openly said "we don't know" instead of the "You're going to miss out..." that Stanley led with.

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What is the problem with just starting another thread on the topic? It's happened so many times in the past, and if there some topic regarding Dragon Age and Linux that still could benefit from being discussed then I would be the mods wouldn't have a problem with it being there (at least that's what they've said in past threads).

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Well, there is one, but it's not had a lot of people on it. The forum admins cutting the original thread (referenced at the beginning of this thread...) off at 10 pages kind of put a crimp in the desire to discuss it further from the people there.

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Will the length of the thread, at 10 or 100 screens, really change anything? At the end of the day, if they were going to be swayed by a forum thread, they'd be swayed by now, and if not, the thread is irrelevant.

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Will the length of the thread, at 10 or 100 screens, really change anything? At the end of the day, if they were going to be swayed by a forum thread, they'd be swayed by now, and if not, the thread is irrelevant.

The only way for them to know there's interest is to show it. It might not sway them this round, but it might next one- as long as they're being nice, they're not explicitly saying "NO" to us, and we're interested in what might be a cool game, we ought to have a presence there. Having said this, I have no illusions that we're going to get a Linux version out of them at this point- it's not terribly likely with some of the commentary from the Bioware people. I'd love to be surprised by them, but...

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I was more referring to the attitude espoused by the thread and how they just simply cut it off at 10 screens- PERIOD. Just when the discussion was getting interesting. I give respect where respect is due- I DO happen to work on a consultant basis for a commercial company producing games for Linux. I'm waiting for the first title to go gold and I'm about to probably be in a position to go back mostly full-time on the other two games I've got responsibility over and shove them out the door with the same quality that you've all come to expect from them.

Very cool to hear that. I wanted to get into Linux game development, but seeing how it's already difficult to get into the business itself... *shrugs shoulders*

As for respect- they've got it. It's just that they did something mildly disrespectful to us there; and the respect they have from me doesn't get them any slack on that regard. If they did what they did in that thread to the Windows crowd they'd be in trouble. But they'll do it to us. Think about it.

Yeah, I know what Stan wrote and I thought he jumped the gun there, but I thought after all the apologies that were traded I thought things just became an argument for or against Linux. That's my opinion.

There could have been an official version of it but the BoD of both Bioware and Atari nixed the deal in the end. When I hear, "you're going to miss out..." it means to me they're not giving it even a single thought in all honesty- and in a way that's not likely to have a version offered, official or unofficial, for Linux.

Well, I thought you read into it too much. In spite of what your opinion of how a company employee should act with regards to its forums, I think Stan just posted as himself. And I honestly think it's very rare for a game studio to plan both a Windows and Linux client from the get go. So, I wouldn't actually expect the Linux client to be in the works right now.

They get kudos for doing NWN and at least giving out a way to play it on Linux in the end. I'm ever grateful. It's why we were trying to have a discussion about DA- I was keen on the idea of a possible new game from them.

They don't get kudos for the game Stanley was playing. He was saying that you'll miss out if we don't make a Linux version and you won't buy- and it's a great game.

Sorry, I don't play that game- EVER. I don't give a flip by and of itself if it's a great game- if it's not on a platform or system I either choose to have or already have, being a great game means NOTHING to me. Trying to convince me to change my position there by way of that it's going to be a great game and I'll miss out is garbage. It's not giving me the respect that one in that position should be giving to a potential customer- so why should I be all respectful to them with that sort of attitude? We get the same treatment from Blizzard and a bunch of other companies- just because they did NWN doesn't get them off the hook when they go about it all that way.

If they'd have said, "we don't know", or "it's not going to happen because of decision 'X'" it'd have gotten them the respectful "Fine. Thanks for NWN, but I'll pass on DA because I'm not interested because of no Linux support at all..." instead of what happened.

In the end, it was all okay in the discussion and the later on threads that got spawned (there's one with 7 pages going right now...). They got the point I was trying to make and they openly said "we don't know" instead of the "You're going to miss out..." that Stanley led with.

Well, alls well that ends well. I mean, in forum terms. Well, I understand your point. There's no point in buying it if you don't have the platform to run it. I don't know if they were trying to convince you to still get it, but I think it just got a lot more tense in that thread.

My respect for their NWN port remains and I think it's one company that knows there is some form of Linux gaming out there. On DA, I really think there's not going to be one at launch but I really think somewhere down the road, maybe. Differences of opinions.

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Yeah, I know what Stan wrote and I thought he jumped the gun there, but I thought after all the apologies that were traded I thought things just became an argument for or against Linux. That's my opinion.

Considering that Stan's an employee, even if he's talking just as himself, if it's in the forum with that BioWare "nametag" on, he's effectively speaking as the company, even if he doesn't have the authority to do so. You'll note I've not directly mentioned any of my current employers in any of my conversations here where it was my opinion. I've mentioned some of them (Yes, I've several- the joys of trying to get your company funded, doing consulting work, etc... )- but I've avoided associating my ravings and not-so-humble opinions with any of them. Stan unfortunately must have skipped the day they covered that in school..

I posted on a thread a while back here telling people that posting a petition thread for a Linux port isn't likely to go anywhere. I don't quite remember the thread title though.

Well, then, we're of the same opinions on that subject. Heh... I just wish we could get more people to listen to us on that one...

To each his own. I respect your skepticism and I mostly can understand why. I, personally, keep my hopes up though.

Please do. I'm cynical, because I've first hand knowledge of what I've spoken of in various forums. Of Loki's missteps. Of what actually happened with Quake 3:Arena for Linux. Of NWN, or rather the lack of an official version for us. All insider knowledge. Either as an ISV for Loki, an ISV for NVidia and ATI/AMD, a consultant for one of the game porting companies, or as a consultant to several different companies providing Linux hardware support for things like iWARP channel adapters or for providing a Linux version of a commercial app.

Been at this sort of thing for quite a long time. About eight to ten years of it, in fact. I'm cynical because I've been on the front lines in my own way for a loooong while.

Well, I thought you read into it too much. In spite of what your opinion of how a company employee should act with regards to its forums, I think Stan just posted as himself. And I honestly think it's very rare for a game studio to plan both a Windows and Linux client from the get go. So, I wouldn't actually expect the Linux client to be in the works right now.

You don't go and do what he did. Ever. It's not professional conduct. There is a reason I don't associate my own not-so-humble
opinion with my respective employers and clients. And it's not so rare, my friend. All one has to do is look at iD or Epic to know that isn't the case- and even Ankh was that way until their crunch period and they just needed a little help to straighten it out. I don't care if they didn't think in those terms- just don't do stupid things that make it harder to make a Linux version.

Now, they said something very similar about KOTOR- and there's little in it that would have precluded doing something identical to NWN for it. No, I don't own it. Wouldn't have even touched it save for my needing to do so to help my current main client get something fixed on their product line in regards to that game and KOTOR2 (UGH... Give me KOTOR over KOTOR2. The thing wasn't complete in any stretch of the imagination...). Between my past experiences and what has passed before from BioWare, I don't think we'll see much from them unless there's a radical change within the next 6 months in the overall market picture. I'd like to be proven wrong- believe me, I'd love little more than that in this case.